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Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Radiata Stories

Story & Playability

The story of Radiata Stories is a semi-typical RPG for the main plot, however the direction of game can go two ways at certain key points. But don't worry, you'll be warned when making your choice. Plus, upon completing the game you'll have the option of a New Game+ so you will be able to play the game over after finishing one side of the story. Also, there are over 150 characters that have there own plots, personalities and specialties that really make them stand out for themselves.

Jack Russel, Radiata Stories protagonist is a very colourful character who's charm and arrogance really liven up the game even during its blandest moments (which can be few and far between or extremely often depending on how fast you play through the game). Jack is the son of a reknowned Radiata Knight, and is trying to make a name for himself while doing what he feels is best at the same time. He is a very admirable character, with a unique perspective of the world, albeit a little naive. .The supporting cast, which I mentioned before, is extremely vast. The two most prominent are Ridley Silverlake and Ganz Rothschild; Ridley is a noble from the Silverlake family, and has an extremely overprotective and politically powerful father. Ganz, the captain of the Rose Cochon Brigade is a socially awkward man, who tries his best to live up to his missing father's name (whom was also a Radiata Knight), he is a very genuine and likeable character.

Personally, I found that playing through Radiata Stories, I was more interested in each individual's story rather than the main plot. However, the story of the game is pretty solid, despite being fairly cliche ridden.

Rating

7 (above average)

Graphics

One thing that will astound you in Radiata Stories is that the graphics are very nice. The cel shading style that seems to be more and more common has been finally perfected on the Playstation 2 with this game. The character designs as well as the environments are extremely rich, colourful and full of life. Much like the game itself. When playing through Radiata Stories, you will continue to be impressed by what you're playing. The only game that rivals the quality of the cel shading is Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for Gamecube. Really, Radiata Stories plays/feels/looks like living art.

Radiata Stories has some of the best graphics found in any RPG on the PS2. Definetely will not dissapoint here, the only place it falls short are the battlefield graphics. And despite being less than the majority of the games graphics, they're still incredibly nice.

Rating

10 (excellent)

Sound

When a character speaks in Radiata Stories, you'll hear it. And fairly well too. tri-Ace did an incredible job picking voice actors for each of the main characters and many of the NPCs as well. However, the battle and background music got to be boring quite fast, and the sound effects in battle could have used some work. The sound effects found when using the kick button can be very amusing however.

Overall, the music could have been more lively and vary a bit more, but it's still very enjoyable. There is also the option of listening to certain character's theme songs (after you find them hidden away first) in Jack's home.

Rating

7 (above average)

Fun

One thing that struck me with Radiata Stories was this: I went into it not expecting much, just another standard blah blah RPG that Square Enix put out while people are waiting for Final Fantasy XII to be released. But I was wrong. Radiata Stories is probably one of the most enjoyable RPGs to date. In my eyes it's definetely a classic and will be a hard to find title later on. Maybe not Valkyrie Profile classic, but a classic in its own respect.

The battle system is basically Star Ocean III done right. You only control one character (Jack Russel) throughout your adventures, but you can form various battle formations and commands through the "Give Orders" menu after learning either from books or from using formations in battle. Another bonus that the battle formations give is that the more you use them with certain characters, you gain certain abilities of your party members. While not super useful, they can definetly help in future battles.

With the New Game + , the huge cast of recruitable characters, and the bonus dungeons (where a certain character from Valkyrie Profile can be recruited) Radiata Stories has some serious re-playability. The game isn't very hard, but it's still incredibly fun to watch and play.

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

8.17 (good)

Reviewed by Prose, 2y 49wk ago